PCB remains hopeful about bilateral 'home' series against India

PCB wants the bilateral series to take place as scheduled in December

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) seem to still have a glimmer of hope about playing the scheduled bilateral series against India, in the UAE in December, reports IBNLive. The talks PCB chief Shahryar Khan had with BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on the sidelines of the ICC meeting has created a positive vibe surrounding the series with newly appointed BCCI president Shashank Manohar inviting Shahryar to India for further talks. Speaking about the meeting between Thakur and the PCB chief in Dubai, a source from the PCB, however, said that, as of now, the BCCI was still non-committal about the series in December.

"Apparently Thakur made it clear to Khan that while the Indian board had a policy of playing more bilateral matches with Pakistan and Bangladesh, he could not make any commitment at this time,” he said. “Thakur conveyed to the PCB chief that at present there were some internal issues in the Indian board that required to be first sorted out after which they would take up the issue of the series with Pakistan."The series is to be played in the UAE, Pakistan’s second ‘home’, and the PCB has been working on preparing with the schedule plan and is in talks with the Emirates Cricket Board. The PCB chief, though, has not pinned his hopes on the series due to the ongoing tension between the two nations and said that the he wasn’t very hopeful about the series happening anytime soon.

New BCCI president Shashank Manohar keen on resolving conflict

Newly-appointed BCCI president Shashank Manohar is also keen on resolving the issues between the two boards and has officially invited the PCB chief to India for discussing the status of the bilateral series.

"Since he was not at the ICC meeting I phoned him and he invited me to tour India after a Working Committee meeting of the BCCI and I hope to get a final answer in eight to 10 days", said the PCB chief Khan, as reported by NDTVSports.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two cricketing boards, India and Pakistan are to play six bilateral series between 2015 & 2023, and the PCB chief stressed on this issue. The PCB however, feel that from their end, they have things under control and they want BCCI to respond very soon.

"I have told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials during discussions with them in Dubai that they must confirm or reject the tour in the next 10 to 12 days. The new President of the Indian board Shashank Manohar has assured us that he is keen on having Indo-Pak series and on resolving all issues between the two boards. We have stressed on the need to further improve relations between the two Boards", he continued.